Saturday, March 29, 2008

If you use TurboTax, you can help shelter pets at no extra cost to you! All you have to do is sign up to iGive.com, and go to TurboTax through that site. TurboTax will donate a percentage of your total purchase price to your selected charity. TurboTax even makes a small donation if you do your Federal taxes for FREE!

iGive is an awesome program that allows you to shop online just as you normally would, except that your purchases through participating vendors help support your selected charity. This is a wonderful way to help your favorite charity with no extra cost to you. To make it even easier, iGive has a Shopping Window program that you can download. Each time you land on a site that is a participating vendor, you'll get a pop-up window to let you know that any purchases will help support your favorite charity. All purchases made by going through the vendor links at iGive or by using the Shopping Window program are automatically credited to your favorite charity.

Insider Pages features an awesome fund-raiser program for charitable organizations. Right now, the Pet Rescue of Mercer is raising money through Insider Pages reviews. It's simple...simply sign up for an account with Insider Pages (I'm a member...no spam!), then write reviews of businesses you've patronized. Each review you write earns the Pet Rescue of Mercer either $1.50 or $0.50. If you think about it, that's a LOT of money for spending just two minutes of your time to write a review. PLEASE help this rescue organization out. This fund-raiser is over in just ONE DAY! Get on board right now and write a couple reviews! It costs you nothing but a couple minutes of your time.

Pet Rescue of Mercer is an all volunteer, not-for-profit animal 501 (c)(3) rescue group based in Mercer County, NJ. PRM rescues neglected, abused, and abandoned animals from local shelters by finding quality homes for them.

Foxy is just one of the beautiful pets awaiting adoption at the Pet Rescue of Mercer. Foxy is a senior female purebred Akita. She loves attention and is good with cats and dogs. Foxy is up to date on shots, spayed, and house-trained. If you are looking to adopt a pet like Foxy, please visit Pet Rescue of Mercer.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Awhile back I mentioned I went on a magnet shopping spree at Cafepress. You see, I had just moved, and I decided my new fridge needed a new look. I bought a bunch of magnets from various Cafepress stores, all of which help support animal rescue. Here are two I purchased from the Pit Bull Rescue Central Store.

I LOVE the magnet on the left! My fiancee has a buddy that refuses to have his adult black lab mix neutered, because "he just couldn't do that to his buddy." I think this magnet explains it well: "Real Men Have Their Own Balls -- Neuter Your Dog!"

The magnet on the right is just beautiful in real life. It poignantly points out the fact that we need remember that the blame for dog attacks lies with humans, not with the dogs.

Pit Bull Rescue Central website is a virtual shelter and resource for owners and caretakers of American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and pit bull mixes. The site features an absolute treasure-trove of information about "Bully Breeds" as well as a "virtual" shelter featuring adoptable "Pit Bulls" around the United States. As a bully-lover, I can't recommend this site enough. If you have a question about Pit Bulls, you will find an answer here.

Look at this cutie pie! What a unique mix! You can keep your puggles, I think I'll take this girl! She looks to be part beagle, part dobie. Does that make her a "beagleman" or perhaps a "dogle"?

Crystal 72778 is a 10 month old female beagle/doberman cross in desperate need of a new home. Her adoption fee is $110.00 which includes vaccinations, spay, rabies, and de-worming. Do you have room in your heart and home for this Georgia peach before her time is up?

If you can adopt Crystal, please contact Lowndes County Animal Services immediately!

Black cats, like black dogs, are much less likely to be adopted from shelters and pounds. Sadly, many people still associate black cats with "bad luck." Black cats in shelters also often get overlooked in favor of "flashier" cats like Siamese, long-hairs, orangies, Maine Coons, etc. Black cats and "plain jane" tabbies are usually the first to go down in high-kill shelters, who are starting to see a huge influx of cats and kittens as kitten season begins.

This guy really breaks my heart. Midnight looks exactly like my mom's cat, Max. I tried to convince her that Max needed a buddy, but considering the fact that my mom is in Minnesota and Midnight is in Georgia, it just doesn't work. Can you give Midnight a home?

Many of our fellow pet-loving bloggers feature Petfinder.com "featured pet" widgets on their blogs. I just recently discovered that Petfinder now has dozens of other new cool banners and widgets to choose from. Please consider adding a couple to your website!

I apologize profusely for being absent for so long! Sometimes real life gets in the way of the fun stuff ;)

A little more about me, for anyone who is interested: I'm a full time law student in my spare time when I'm not trying to help shelter pets, so I've been super busy with school lately. I just got done with a mid-term and taking the MPRE (keep your fingers crossed for me-- I'll find out if I passed in a couple weeks), and I've been super busy at the law firm where I work. The good news is, I'll be graduating in May! After three years of working my butt off, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! It will be weird after I graduate to be able to say "I'm a lawyer." Then comes the Bar Exam. Yikes!

I've also got a job lined up when I graduate, so that's a huge relief. Many of my classmates are scrambling to find some sort of job to help pay the gigantic student loan bills that are going to start coming in a few short months.

I started law school with all sorts of altruistic aspirations to do all sorts of good with my law degree. It was my intention to become a criminal defense attorney -- specifically, a public defender. During my second year, I came to realize that criminal defense work wasn't really what I wanted to do. Moreover, I also came to the conclusion that if you want to make enough money to pay back your student loans when you're done with school, you probably better look at private practice or a corporate law job. Ironically, it seems that public interest legal work is best reserved for those law students who come from wealthy backgrounds. Those jobs really just don't pay enough. Lots of people think lawyers are rich. That's not necessarily the case, I've discovered. The cost of education has gone up exponentially, while the pay scale for attorneys has barely risen over the last couple decades. We now graduate with much, much more student debt, fewer job prospects, and lower earning potential.

But, I digress. I worked for a solo practitioner law firm last summer doing personal injury and workers' compensation. It was just supposed to be for the summer, but at the end of the summer, my boss offered me a job. He decided it was time the firm brought on a second attorney. Yay!

Anyway, I'm so honored to report that Saving Lives One at A Time received two blog awards while I was absent from the blogging world.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Parvo is an absolutely devastating, highly-contagious viral canine disease. It most often strikes puppies, and typically, those infected with Parvo have only a 50% chance of survival. Puppies and adult dogs are usually vaccinated against Parvo, but shelter pups, who have often never received their puppy shots, are extremely susceptible to this terrible disease.

It is also extremely easy to spread Parvo, and the virus itself is extremely hardy. Most disinfectants don't kill it, and it can live in the environment for five months or longer.

In puppies, the virus usually takes about 7-10 days to incubate, which means that up to a week may pass after exposure before the puppy shows symptoms, or before the pup tests positive for parvo. The first symptoms of Parvo usually include a high fever, lethargy, depression, and loss of appetite. As the disease progresses, symptoms include vomiting and bloody diarrhea. Left untreated, the disease progresses to dehydration, shock and death. For more excellent information about Parvo, please visit the Working Dogs website.

Parvo Pup Needs Your Help!

Recently, I received an urgent plea for some pups at the St. Martin Parish Animal Control Facility. Three pups came in, and over the course of just a couple days, their physical health rapidly deteriorated. A kind soul brought the sickly pups to the vet, where they were diagnosed with Parvo. Unfortunately, as of this morning, two of the puppies have died. Their young systems just couldn't beat this devastating disease. One puppy is fighting to survive.

This little girl, 444518, is a baby rottweiler mix, and she's fighting for her life to survive.

Given the severity of the disease, the costs for treating the puppies, both the puppies that didn't make it, and the one puppy that is fighting for her life, are going to be enormous.

If you have a few spare dollars, please consider donating it to help offset the costs of treating the pups. Donations can be made to the St. Martin Humane Society. Please note that the donation is for the "parvo pups."All donations are tax deductible.

If you can't donate, please consider cross-posting this plea for help, or please send your prayers and/or good vibes to the one pup fighting for her life.

UPDATE 3/20: I'm very sad to report that the remaining "Parvo pup" has gone over the Bridge. She appeared to be doing a little bet better, and then she was gone. Thank you to anyone who donated, cross-posted, or sent prayers or good thoughts to the sick puppies.

In loving memory of the two babies who didn't make it. May you find love, health, and peace at the Bridge.

Sweet Pea 9182 is an adult female orange tabby cat. From the looks of her profile photo, she loves to "sing." When she's not practicing her vocal scales, Sweet Pea loves lounging in laps and getting snuggles.

Unfortunately, Sweet Pea somehow landed herself at a shelter, and her time is not unlimited. As kitten season fast approaches, the situation may get dire for Sweet Pea if she is not adopted soon!

Like humans, cats have one pair of sex chromosomes. These are the ones that make them male or female and they play an essential role in determining a cat’s colour. In females, both sex chromosomes are X making girl kitties XX. Males are XY, the Y making them male. A kitten gets one chromosome from Mom and one from Dad. Moms only have X’s so the variable is given by the Dad, if he gives his X, the kitten is a girl, if he gives his Y, it is a boy.

The gene which makes a cat ginger (orange) is located on the X chromosome. The gene for ginger will override all other colours. Since males have only one X, they either are or aren’t ginger - no halfway about it. Girl cats have two X’s in each cell. As far as the cells are concerned two X’s is one too many, so each cell deactivates one of the X chromosomes in a fairly random fashion . . .

Since males only need to have the orange gene on one chromosome to become ginger, and females have to have it on two, ginger males outnumber females 3 to 1.

"She is the sweetest dog I have ever met! Dora is quite mellow for a lab. She is the kind of dog that is excited when you want her to be excited, and lazy when you want her to be lazy. She will gladly go on a walk and then cuddle with you for a nap. She just wants to be loved! Dora thinks she is a lap-dog. One of her favorite things to do is be the "big spoon" when you sleep at night. Dora loves snow and will try to make her own snow-angels in the deep stuff. Dora is spayed and current on all her shots. Due to some unfortunate circumstances at her previous residence, Dora had trouble going to the bathroom as much as any other dog would, but she has not once had an accident inside. Dora is also very fearful of certain men but accepting of women and some men. Once she realizes you aren't going to hurt her she will try to lick your face off! Dora is sweet enough to be around kids and she loves to play with other dogs. Dora has never chewed anything she wasn't supposed to, but she does like to lazily pull apart her own toys. Right now she is about 10 to 15 pounds overweight but she should hopefully lose it quickly with a healthier diet and a few more walks during the day!"

Adopt-A-Petis a non-profit, completely volunteer-run organization with the primary goal of placing rescued pets in loving and responsible homes. We are dedicated to keeping our animals happy and healthy.

We receive no government financial support. Adopt-A-Pet relies solely on private donations to keep operating. Private donations, fundraising events, and our adoption fees help us pay for food, medical supplies, and the veterinary expenses we incur every month.

All of our animals are under our care until a permanent home can be found, no matter how long it takes.

Did you Know????Each year hundreds of cats and dogs are euthanized. In 2006, 1291 cats were admitted to the Fargo, West Fargo, and Moorhead pounds, and 574 of them were euthanized. In 2006, 979 dogs were admitted to the pounds, and 112 were euthanized. These numbers do not account for the large numbers who die on the streets or are hit by cars. Please spay or neuter your pets.

Do you have extra room in your heart and home to provide temporary safety to a dog or cat in need? One of the greatest ways to help rescue organizations is to foster pets. For more information, please visit the Pet Foster Network, which has lots of great resources for people considering fostering.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Name: Perfect Breed: Pug / Poodle / Doxie / Golden Retriever / Cavalier King Charles Spaniel / Bichon Age: Puppy Gender: Male / Female Description: Are you looking for a dog who has perfect manners, never has an accident, doesn't shed, adores children (even toddlers who tug on his ears or stumble on him while he is sleeping), needs no exercise, doesn't bark, has impeccable manners, never chews, and needs no training? Perfect is just that and then some. Perfect requires no heartworm preventative, never needs to be groomed, and never needs to go to the vet. He gets along with all other animals, even rabbits, and never even so much as grumbles at another animal, even if another dog is eating out of Perfect's dog dish. He'd be perfect for someone with a very busy life who isn't home much. If Perfect sounds like the perfect dog for you, you may find more dogs just like him at your local toy store. If Perfect DOES NOT sound quite what you are looking for in a pooch, you'll be a great guardian for a real dog! As you can see, we have tons of other wonderful, perfect-in-their-own-unique-way dogs!

About Homeward Bound Dog Rescue

Homeward Bound is dedicated to rescuing homeless and unwanted animals. We are a non-profit, 501(c) 3-tax exempt, no-kill dog rescue and placement organization based in Minnesota. Although our focus is primarily on rescuing dogs, we also rescue cats, kittens, & other animals. We are an independent organization and depend solely on adoption fees, fundraisers, and donations to operate. We receive NO government support.Homeward Bound has been in operation since 1991 & has placed over 12,000 dogs in loving homes. We try our best to match the dogs with the needs, wants, personalities, and lifestyles of potential adopters to ensure a healthy, happy, & permanent home. All Homeward Bound dogs must live indoors. Dogs are social pack animals by nature and we want them to be able to have all of the companionship, love, & attention they deserve, as well as a chance to bond with the family.

We rescue all types of dogs, ranging from small to large breeds. Roughly 40% of the dogs we rescue are purebred while the other 60% are mixed breeds. The age of the dogs varies from puppies to adults. We will tell you about each dog's history, personality, & behavior, including whether or not they are good which children and other pets, their exercise needs, & other important information.

Each week, new dogs are rescued and we hold pet adoptions every Saturday at a Petco location from 11:30a.m. - 4p.m. in the Twin Cities area. Please see our Adoption Dates and Locations for more information.

If you live in the Twin Cities Metro area and are looking for a new furry friend, please check out all the wonderful pets available at Homeward Bound Rescue.

In trying to figure out ways to raise more money to donate to my favorite rescue organizations, I decided to experiment with Cafepress. If you're not familiar with Cafepress, it is an site that allows members to build an online store, hosted by Cafepress, to upload designs, and to sell hundreds of items featuring those designs to online shoppers. All hosting is managed by Cafepress, as is all order processing, and manufacturing. For the most part, all you have to do is set up your store, and upload designs.

You can set up a store for free, or you can pay a relatively small fee to have a "premium" store. After experimenting with a couple free stores, I set up my first premium store, Reekoe's Room. My store features over 100 pet-related designs, focusing on animal welfare, animal rescue, and spaying and neutering. Each month, I choose a deserving animal welfare organization, and donate 100% of my profits. My little "experiment" has turned out to be a huge success. Since I started my store about six months ago, I have been able to donate an extra $1,000 to animal rescue organizations. To see which organizations I'm supporting, please click here.

For individuals wishing to help rescue organizations, starting a Cafepress store and donating a portion of your proceeds is a great way to help. If you've got some ideas for t-shirts or bumper stickers, start a free store, and donate your profits to rescue. If you've already got a Cafepress store, consider donating a portion of your proceeds to animal welfare organizations. Or, you could make a "special edition" design, the proceeds from which are donated to rescue. Finally, you could donate a t-shirt, or a mug, or some stickers to organizations looking for raffle items or prizes.

One other option is to create a design and donate that design to your favorite animal rescue organization if they already have a Cafepress store. Click here to find out size and dimension suggestions for your designs. Typically, your favorite organization's website will have a link to their store. Otherwise, check out this site for an extensive list of organizations with Cafepress stores.

As an example of how this works, I am offering this design from my store, free, to any qualified organization or individual who wishes to use it for animal-welfare related purposes. To get a copy of this design as high-quality, large-scale png. file, please e-mail me at jyackley01@gmail.com. Please include the e-mail address where you wish to have the file mailed, as well as what you intend to use the image for.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Did you know that shelters have a much harder time placing big black dogs? This tendency for adopters to by-pass large black dogs is known as "black dog syndrome." No one is quite sure why would-be adopters overlook large black dogs waiting for a new home. I'd like to thank Pet Rescuer Central for posting a link to this fascinating article about Black Dog Syndrome. If you are in the market for a new dog, please don't overlook those wonderful Big Black Dogs.

Here are two wonderful big black dogs that are in desperate need of new homes. Chardonnay and Michelob were turned in together by their owner who was diagnosed with a debilitating illness. Chardonnay and Michelob are now fighting for their lives. Both are scheduled for euthanization on March 22, 2008.

These two dogs have been constant companions since they were puppies. They are now both 11 years old. Chardonnay is an adult female black labrador retriever. Michelob is an adult male shepherd mix. They want nothing more than a nice place to relax and retire. If possible, they'd love to be adopted together.

Both dogs have spent their entire lives as outside dogs, and would really love for someone to bring them home and let them live inside. Both Chardonnay and Michelob are already altered and are very sweet.

Chardonnay and Michelob also come with sponsorships for any qualified rescue that can save them.